2020-07717. Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products From Thailand: Final Results of Administrative Review and Determination of No Shipments; 2017-2018

AGENCY:

Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Commerce (Commerce) determines that there were no shipments of subject merchandise during the period of review (POR) November 1, 2017 through October 31, 2018.

DATES:

Applicable April 13, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Chelsey Simonovich, AD/CVD Operations, Office VI, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

Commerce published the Preliminary Results on December 16, 2019.^[1] Interested parties were asked to comment within 30 days of the date of publication. We received no comments.

Scope of the Order

The products covered by the order are certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products from Thailand. For a complete description of the scope of the order, see the Appendix to this notice.

Final Determination of No Shipments

In the Preliminary Results, we found that Sahaviriya Steel Industries Public Co., Ltd. (Sahaviriya) and G Steel Public Company Ltd. (G Steel) had no shipments of the subject merchandise to the United States during the POR. Also, in the Preliminary Results, we stated that, consistent with our practice, it was not appropriate to rescind the review, but rather to complete the review and issue appropriate instructions to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) based on the final results of this review.^[2]

After issuing the Preliminary Results, we received no information that contradicted our Preliminary Results. No interested party commented on the Preliminary Results. Therefore, for these final results, we continue to find that Sahaviriya and G Steel had no shipments of the subject merchandise to the United States during the POR.

Assessment Rates

Commerce determines, and CBP shall assess, antidumping duties on all appropriate entries of subject merchandise in accordance with these final results of review.^[3] Consistent with Commerce's clarification to its assessment practice, because we determined that Sahaviriya and G Steel had no shipments of subject merchandise to the United States during the POR, for entries of subject merchandise during the POR produced, but not exported by, Sahaviriya and G Steel, we will instruct CBP to liquidate any entries at the all-others rate if there is no rate for the intermediate company(ies) involved in the transaction.^[4]

We intend to issue instructions to CBP 15 days after the date of publication of the final results of this review.

Cash Deposit Requirements

The following deposit requirements will be effective for all shipments of the subject merchandise entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after the publication date of the final results of this administrative review, as provided by section 751(a)(2)(C) of the Act: (1) The cash deposit rates for G Steel and Sahaviriya will remain unchanged from the rate assigned to them in the most recently completed review of those companies; (2) for merchandise exported by manufacturers or exporters not covered in this review but covered in a prior segment of the proceeding, the cash deposit rate will continue to be the company-specific rate published for the most recently-completed segment; (3) if the exporter is not a firm covered in this review, a prior review, or the original investigation, but the manufacturer is, then the cash deposit rate will be the rate established for the most recently completed segment for the manufacturer of the merchandise; and (4) the cash deposit rate for all other manufacturers or exporters will continue to be 4.44 percent, the all-others rate established in the less-than-fair-value investigation.^[5] These cash deposit requirements, when imposed, shall remain in effect until further notice.

Notification to Importers Regarding the Reimbursement of Duties

This notice also serves as a final reminder to importers of their responsibility under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) to file a certificate regarding the reimbursement of antidumping duties prior to liquidation of the relevant entries during the POR. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in Commerce's presumption that reimbursement of antidumping duties occurred and the subsequent assessment of double antidumping duties.

Notification Regarding Administrative Protective Order

This notice also serves as a reminder to parties subject to administrative protective orders (APO) of their responsibility concerning the return or destruction of proprietary information disclosed under APO in accordance with 19 CFR 351.305(a)(3), which continues to govern business proprietary information in this segment of the proceeding. Timely written notification of the return/destruction of APO materials, or conversion to judicial protective order, is hereby requested. Failure to comply with the regulations and the terms of an APO is a sanctionable violation.

Notification to Interested Parties

We are issuing and publishing this notice in accordance with sections 751(a)(1) and 777(i)(1) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.221(b)(5).

Dated: April 7, 2020.

Jeffrey I. Kessler,

Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.

Appendix—Scope of the Order

For purposes of the Order, the products covered are certain hot-rolled carbon steel flat products of a rectangular shape, of a width of 0.5 inch or greater, neither clad, plated, nor coated with metal and whether or not painted, varnished, or coated with plastics or other non-metallic substances, in coils (whether or not in successively superimposed layers), regardless of thickness, and in straight lengths of a thickness of less than 4.75 mm and of a width measuring at least 10 times the thickness. Universal mill plate (i.e., flat-rolled products rolled on four faces or in a closed box pass, of a width exceeding 150 mm, but not exceeding 1250 mm, and of a thickness of not less than 4.0 mm, not in coils and without patterns in relief) of a thickness not less than 4.0 mm is not included within the scope of the order.

Specifically included within the scope of the order are vacuum degassed, fully stabilized (commonly referred to as interstitial-free (IF)) steels, high strength low alloy (HSLA) steels, and the substrate for motor lamination steels. IF steels are recognized as low carbon steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as titanium or niobium (also commonly referred to as columbium), or both, added to stabilize carbon and nitrogen elements. HSLA steels are recognized as steels with micro-alloying levels of elements such as chromium, copper, niobium, vanadium, and molybdenum. The substrate for motor lamination steels contains micro-alloying levels of elements such as silicon and aluminum.

Steel products to be included in the scope of the order, regardless of definitions in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTS), are products in which: (i) Iron predominates, by weight, over each of the other contained elements; (ii) the carbon content is 2 percent or less, by weight; and (iii) none of the elements listed below exceeds the quantity, by weight, respectively indicated:

1.80 percent of manganese,

or 2.25 percent of silicon,

or 1.00 percent of copper,

or 0.50 percent of aluminum,

or 1.25 percent of chromium,

or 0.30 percent of cobalt,

or 0.40 percent of lead,

or 1.25 percent of nickel,

or 0.30 percent of tungsten,

or 0.10 percent of molybdenum,

or 0.10 percent of niobium,

or 0.15 percent of vanadium,

or 0.15 percent of zirconium.

All products that meet the physical and chemical description provided above are within the scope of the order unless otherwise excluded. The following products, by way of example, are outside or specifically excluded from the scope of the order:

—Alloy hot-rolled steel products in which at least one of the chemical elements exceeds those listed above (including, e.g., ASTM specifications A543, A387, A514, A517, A506).

—Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)/American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) grades of series 2300 and higher.

—Ball bearings steels, as defined in the HTS.

—Tool steels, as defined in the HTS.

—Silico-manganese (as defined in the HTS) or silicon electrical steel with a silicon level exceeding 2.25 percent.

—ASTM specifications A710 and A736.

—USS Abrasion-resistant steels (USS AR 400, USS AR 500).

—All products (proprietary or otherwise) based on an alloy ASTM specification (sample specifications: ASTM A506, A507).

—Non-rectangular shapes, not in coils, which are the result of having been processed by cutting or stamping and which have assumed the character of articles or products classified outside chapter 72 of the HTS.

The merchandise subject to the order is classified in the HTS at subheadings: 7208.10.15.00, 7208.10.30.00, 7208.10.60.00, 7208.25.30.00, 7208.25.60.00, 7208.26.00.30, 7208.26.00.60, 7208.27.00.30, 7208.27.00.60, 7208.36.00.30, 7208.36.00.60, 7208.37.00.30, 7208.37.00.60, 7208.38.00.15, 7208.38.00.30, 7208.38.00.90, 7208.39.00.15, 7208.39.00.30, 7208.39.00.90, 7208.40.60.30, 7208.40.60.60, 7208.53.00.00, 7208.54.00.00, 7208.90.00.00, 7211.14.00.90, 7211.19.15.00, 7211.19.20.00, 7211.19.30.00, 7211.19.45.00, 7211.19.60.00, 7211.19.75.30, 7211.19.75.60, and 7211.19.75.90. Certain hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon steel flat products covered by the order, including: Vacuum degassed fully stabilized; high strength low alloy; and the substrate for motor lamination steel may also enter under the following tariff numbers: 7225.11.00.00, 7225.19.00.00, 7225.30.30.50, 7225.30.70.00, 7225.40.70.00, 7225.99.00.90, 7226.11.10.00, 7226.11.90.30, 7226.11.90.60, 7226.19.10.00, 7226.19.90.00, 7226.91.50.00, 7226.91.70.00, 7226.91.80.00, and 7226.99.01.80. Subject merchandise may also enter under 7210.70.30.00, 7210.90.90.00, 7211.14.00.30, 7212.40.10.00, 7212.40.50.00, and 7212.50.00.00. Although the HTS subheadings are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise under the order is dispositive.

Footnotes

1.  See Certain Hot-Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Thailand: Preliminary Determination of No Shipments; 2017-2018, 84 FR 68398 (December 16, 2019) (Preliminary Results).

2.  See, e.g., Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation: Preliminary Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 26922, 26923 (May 13, 2010), unchanged in Magnesium Metal from the Russian Federation: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review, 75 FR 56989 (September 17, 2010).

3.  See 19 CFR 351.212(b).

4.  For a full discussion, see Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Proceedings: Assessment of Antidumping Duties, 68 FR 23954 (May 6, 2003).

5.  See Notice of Final Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value; Certain Hot Rolled Carbon Steel Flat Products from Thailand, 66 FR 49623 (September 28, 2001).